Sicky Face
by SilverMidnight52
Summary: Mac finds a shocking secret about Danny's home life after visiting Danny's home and having a little boy answer the door.
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing. Short story. Only two or three chapters. I hope you all like! Enjoy!

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"It's Mac," I said into my phone, "You're shift started two hours ago. You better have a damn good excuse for running so late."

With a sigh I hung up the phone and looked at the clock once more. Danny had been late before, but never this late. I was beginning to grow worried when my phone buzzed with a txt.

Looking down at it I noticed that it was from Danny. It said that he wouldn't be able to come in today. Shaking my head I grabbed my jacket and car keys. This wasn't acceptable and I was going to make sure he knew that.

I got in my car and started to drive to Danny's apartment. He didn't live that far away, but with the heat wave that had hit New York I wasn't going to walk knowing people would be getting angered easily today.

Once I got to Danny's apartment I went up to his door and knocked loudly. I didn't know what I was going to say, but I was frustrated enough by the heat and Danny blowing off work that I didn't care.

The door opened a crack before shutting all the way. A latch was undone and the door swung open all the way. I opened my mouth to start telling Danny off, but noticed that I was looking at air.

"Down here," a small voice said calmly.

Looking down I saw a six year old boy holding the door knob. He looked like a mini Danny Messer, right down to the glasses adorning his face. I was shocked, but shook it off when he started to talk again.

"My dad showed me your picture before," he said motioning for me to come in, "You're his boss, right?"

"Your dad," I said in disbelief."

"Yeah," he said nodding, "Hard to believe?"

"I thought he would have told me," I said sighing.

"Dad thought it was safer this way," he said going into the kitchen, "Water?"

"Sure," I said following him, "What's your name?"

"Luca," he said handing me a bottle of water, "My mama named me."

"Luca," Danny's voice said before I could say anything.

"I'll be back," Luca said grabbing another bottle of water and a plastic pail.

I watched Luca run into a room only to hear what sounded like vomiting a moment later. Danny really was sick and from the sound of it calling me would have been too hard.

Sitting at the kitchen table I looked around the apartment. A picture of Danny holding a baby, Luca I guessed, hung on the wall next to one with him and Luca at a baseball game.

A few other pictures like that were around, but I couldn't find one with the mother and from how the apartment was decorated to seemed like no woman was living here either.

Luca ran out of the room, I assumed a bedroom, and through the living room into another room. When he ran back out he was holding a bottle of medicine and a damp wash cloth.

I waited awhile longer before deciding to go into the bedroom and see exactly what was going on. Once I stood up and made it half way to the bedroom Luca walked out and stared at me.

"Sorry about that," Luca said sighing, "Dad has the flu I think."

"That's why you sent me that txt," I said nodding.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked confused.

"Because Danny would have called," I said smirking.

"True," he said sighing, "I tried to have him call you, but he's going between sleeping and puking his guts up."

"I see," I said taking my phone out.

"What are you doing?" he said staring at me.

"Stella," I said into the phone, "You're in charge. Danny's sick and I'm going to make sure nothing happens to him. No, I don't need your help. I'll call if I do. Bye."

Luca stared at me after I hung up. He looked confused, but that confusion turned to anger. He glared at me and closed the door to the bedroom like he wanted to make sure Danny couldn't hear us.

"I don't need your help," Luca said firmly, "I can take care of my Dad."

"I know you can," I said calmly, "But I'm not going to let you do it alone."

"Dad takes care of me when I'm sick," he said glaring, "I can take care of him when he's sick. It's only fair."

Sighing I shook my head and realized how much Luca was like Danny. There was no way Luca would openly admit he needed my help until he was proven wrong. I couldn't just leave him here to take care of Danny though.

"I'm staying," I said sitting on the couch.

"You're insane," Luca said grabbing his hat.

"Where are you going?" I asked sitting up.

"Store," he said rolling his eyes, "Dad is going to run out of meds soon. Anyway, these ones suck. I'm going to get more."

"I'll go," I said standing up again.

"No," he said firmly.

"Who's going to watch Danny?" I asked knowing it would work.

Luca stared at me for a moment before looking at the closed bedroom door. A sad sigh left his lips and he took off his hat. Going to a piece of paper he wrote something down before handing it to me.

"Get this," Luca said softly, "Exactly this."

"Okay," I said nodding.

I took the piece of paper from Luca and started to walk to the store across the next street over. I realized it was a good thing that I had gone to Danny's. The people on the street were acting crazier then normal.

As I walked I thought about Luca. He seemed to be more mature then any six year old I had ever met. It was like he was used to taking care of someone while they were sick.

Going into the drug store I grabbed the exact medicine Luca had written down and paid for it. On my way back to Danny's I wondered what could have made Luca an expect at taking care of someone.

When I got back I found the door unlocked. I went inside and saw the bedroom door open. Quietly I went to the doorway and opened my mouth to announce my presence.

"You're going to be fine Dad," Luca said tearfully, "You just have the flu. You're going to get better. You have to. You promised to teach me about DNA. Please get better Dad."

Listening to Luca made my heart break. He was begging Danny to stay alive. Someone close to him must have died before. From the way he was acting it was most likely his mother.

I went back to the front door and closed it a bit louder this time. I waited a moment until I heard the bed creak and Luca walk into the living room. He grabbed the bag from my hand and took out the bottle.

With a quick look over the directions Luca went back to the kitchen and got a chair. I watched him push it against the counter and stand on it. He then climbed on the counter and reached for something that he couldn't reach.

Walking over to him I took the can and placed it in his hand. He turned around and glared at me before jumping off the counter and getting a can opener out. When the can was open he poured it in a pan and started to heat it up.

"Damn," Danny's voice said before a huge bang.

Luca jumped slightly and handed me the pan. Before I could say anything he ran into the bedroom and started to talk quietly. I couldn't make out what either of them were saying, but I knew that it wasn't good.

I didn't want to hear Luca telling me off if I was the one sick. It wasn't that it would have been out of anger, but seeing the sadness and worry in his eyes would have been enough.

"Come on Dad," Luca said helping Danny out of his room, "Let's get you on the couch."

Luca and Danny stumbled through the living room until Danny was finally resting on the couch. Without wasting a moment Luca ran back into the bedroom and brought out an empty pail.

Sighing I poured some of the hot soup into a bowl, got a spoon, and brought it to Luca. Luca nodded in thanks before kneeling next to Danny's head and starting to feed him slowly.

"You don't have to do this Kid," Danny said his voice hoarse.

"And you shouldn't talk," Luca said firmly, "But you are anyway."

"I'll make it up to you," he said quietly.

"Yeah," Luca said nodding, "You'll talk to your boss."

"My boss?" Danny asked confused.

Luca simply shook his head and fed Danny some more soup. It had only been about five spoonfuls of broth, but Danny already looked like he was going to explode if he at anymore.

I took the bowl that Luca handed to me and placed it in the sink. There was no way anyone was going to use that bowl again until it was washed. When I came back Luca and Danny were talking again.

"You're boss is here, Dad," Luca said placing a blanket over Danny, "He's going to help me look after you."

"What?" Danny said looking over at me, "Mac?"


	2. Chapter 2

I own nothing. And this is the end. Enjoy!

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"Hey Mac," Danny said after a moment.

"Danny," I said calmly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked laying down fully.

"That's my fault," Luca said sighing, "You couldn't call him so I sent him a txt saying that you were sick. He came here."

"It's alright Luca," Danny said softly, "He would have come over whether you sent the txt or not."

"Yeah," Luca said yawning widely.

"Get some sleep Kid," Danny said smiling, "I'll be fine for a few hours."

"You can barely get around Dad," Luca said frowning.

"I'll help," I said shrugging.

"We're fine," Luca said glaring at me again.

"Luca," Danny said firmly, "Stop. Mac can stay with me while you sleep."

"Dad," Luca said trying to fight him.

"Go," he said pushing him toward a closed door, "Mac will wake you up if anything happens."

"Fine," Luca said going to the door, "He better."

The door slammed behind Luca and I saw Danny flinch slightly. A sigh slipped from his lips and his hand went to rub his head. I guessed that Danny had a headache that was getting worse.

As much as I wanted to ask Danny why he never told me I knew that I wasn't going to get a straight answer yet. From how he was acting he probably had a low grade fever.

I got up and went to get a water bottle from the kitchen. Going back to the living room I placed the bottle in front of Danny and sat on the chair and waited for Danny to say something.

"I guess you're wondering what's going on," Danny said sitting up slightly.

"Lay down Danny," I said pushing him down, "You're still sick."

"Not as sick as Luca made me out to be," he said laughing, "He freaks out whenever I get sick."

"Why?" I asked slowly.

"Because of what happened with his mother," he said sighing, "Luca is old enough to remember how it was at the end of her illness."

"What happened?" I said calmly.

"Hayden Keller," he said smiling, "We dated for awhile seven years ago before she told me that she was pregnant. We had everything figured out and there was no way that I was going to leave her. We bought this place and fixed up Luca's room. About two years after Luca was born Hayden started to get really sick.

She was so sick she could barely leave our bed without getting physically sick. I took care of her and Luca the best I could, but after awhile I couldn't take care of both of them. Hayden got so sick that she had to stay at the hospital until she got better. She didn't get better though.

In fact she got worse faster then the doctors thought. They still didn't know what was wrong with her though. They tried everything to figure it out, but it was too late when they finally did. The meds that Hayden would have had to take wouldn't have worked at the stage of her sickness.

Luca was four by this time. He spent two years visiting Hayden in the hospital. Watching her basically fall apart day after day. During the last few months Hayden barely knew who either of us were. I wanted to stop taking Luca to see her, but the one time I did he walked down to the hospital himself.

A few weeks after Luca's fifth birthday Hayden died. It took awhile, but Luca was finally able to stop crying everyday over losing Hayden and I wasn't going on autopilot anymore. Everything was starting to go back to normal, for the most part, when I got a cold.

Luca freaked out when I spent the day in bed. He took care of me, the best he could, until I was better. It wasn't a bad cold or anything, but I did have a headache so I didn't want to move into the living room where it was too bright. The next day I was well again.

Once Luca saw that I was okay he locked himself in his room and refused to come out. I picked the lock and found Luca laying on his bed crying. I tried to get him to talk but all that he said was 'Mama'. I realized that he had been afraid that I was going to die just like Hayden did.

Now whenever I am sick Luca ends up worrying himself sick and I have to convince him that I'm not going to leave him. I've tired to my hardest to keep myself from getting sick, but I do sometimes. I keep wondering whether I should take Luca to talk to a professional. That's the story."

I stared at Danny and tried to take in the whole story. With everything that had happened to Luca I wasn't surprised by how he was acting toward me. He didn't want to leave Danny on the chance that he got sicker.

Nodding my head I looked between Danny and the door. I had to agree with Danny. Luca probably did need to talk to someone about everything that had happened to him.

Watching a parent die at that young of an age was never something easy to do, but Luca seemed to be taking it harder then most had. Having him talk to someone was a good idea.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked after awhile.

"Our work is dangerous," Danny said shrugging, "I didn't want anyone to use Luca against me or hurt him in anyway. Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do, but I did what I thought was best."

"I don't blame you," I said nodding, "But you still should have told me off the record. What if you got hurt? No one would know to tell Luca or to check on him and that would have hurt him more."

"You know now," he said calmly, "Nothing I can do about the past now."

"You're right," I said standing up, "How sick are you?"

"I'll be fine tomorrow," he said stretching, "It's just a stomach flu."

"Alright," I said smiling, "I want you to bring Luca into work with you tomorrow."

"What?" he asked confused.

"Bring Luca into work tomorrow," I said more firmly.

Danny nodded his head after a moment knowing that I wasn't going to take no for an answer. There was no real point in fighting against me when I had decided on something.

I watched Danny get up and walk into the kitchen. Following him I saw him take a box out of the top shelf. He took the box and brought it back into the living room before placing it on the desk.

"Luca," Danny said slightly loudly, "I know you're listening."

The door opened slowly to reveal Luca standing there with a soft blush on his lips. Luca walked up to us and sat next to Danny. Danny handed him the box and waited for Luca to take a cookie from the box.

Danny placed an arm around Luca's shoulders and let out a soft sigh. As much as it felt awkward for me to be sitting here watching the two of them talk I knew I couldn't leave either.

"Luca," Danny said calmly, "How would you like to come to work with me tomorrow?"

"Really?" Luca asked surprised.

"Yeah," he said nodding, "I also need to talk to you about how you act when I get sick."

"I just worry," Luca said shrugging.

"I know," he said sighing, "But you worry yourself sick and that's not good. You need to talk to someone about why you run yourself ragged when I'm sick."

"It's not a big deal," Luca said softly.

"It is if you're making yourself sick taking care of me," he said half hugging Luca, "Tomorrow after you meet everyone I'm going to take you to someone that you're going to talk to."

"I don't have much of a choice do I?" Luca asked rolling his eyes.

"No," he said laughing.

"Fine," Luca said dramatically, "I'll talk to someone. If I get ice cream after."

"Deal," he said smiling.

I felt the sides of my lips tug as I tried to fight the smile that was coming. I didn't want them to think that I was listening in even though I was sitting right next to them as they talked.

"Luca," Danny said motioning to me, "This is my boss, Detective Mac Taylor. Mac this is my son, Luca Daniel Messer."

"Hello Luca," I said offering him my hand.

"Hey Mac," Luca said shaking my hand.

"Nice to formally meet you," I said smiling.

Luca nodded his head before yawning loudly once more. He looked at Danny and rested his head on Danny's shoulder. His eyes slipped shut and he was almost instantly asleep.

Danny shook his head while standing up. Bringing Luca into his own room he tucked him in and came back into the living room and showing me out. Before shutting the door he let out a soft sigh.

"See you and Luca at work tomorrow," I said smiling.

"Yeah you will," Danny said before shutting the door.


End file.
